Agency Weekend TESOL

Lesson Planning The objective in the classroom is for the students to successfully learn and the teacher to successfully teach. For that to happen a careful planning needs to take place beforehand. Why is having an organized plan important? What are the important parts of planning a lesson? How can a teacher be sure to include them? And why are they important? In the following I wish to address these areas of lesson planning. For a beginner teacher a clearly detailed written lesson plan is essential for teaching a class. It helps them stay focused and organized throughout the class. With time and experience the teacher will become more relaxed but always will need some kind of basic plan. Although new to teaching or with many years of experience, all teachers need to realize the need to plan but be flexible. During the actual class the teacher may have to change things up or adapt to fit the students needs or desires in learning. Before preparing the actual lesson plan the teacher needs to have a idea or goal for the class. First, a goal of the total classes planned. Then, individual goals for the different classes planned. This helps in harmonizing the lessons in a progressive manner, which can be more easily done with the help of a course book. In planning for individual classes, it’s best to start by identifying a topic and then the language that goes with it. Included could be vocabulary or grammar to be introduced or reviewed. Activities that will get the students involved in the lesson also need to be thought out. The first stage of the lesson would be to give the students a brief outline of the day's goal or objective and activities planned. Then it is essential to get the students involved as quickly as possible, letting then share what they know on the subject. Also, it’s a great opportunity for the teacher to find out the true interests of the students. With this vital brief beginning planned, the teacher can then decide what will be taught. In the second phase the language necessary for the lesson needs to be planned. Either the instructor needs to produce his own material or with the use of specific information in the course textbooks help the students learn. It is important during this phase that the student learns structured language and practices it. The teacher may need to plan pronunciation, grammar, or other essential parts of the language. For the third part of a lesson plan the teacher needs to plan an interesting way for the students to apply what they have learned in the class. An activity in which the students can practice together and should use learned language from previous lessons and the newly learned language. Throughout this activity the teacher would remain alert supervising what is being said. This would help in what needs to be reviewed or focused more on in later lessons. Finally, in brief conclusion it would be good to reunite the class and review the main points of the class. This is good in helping the students remember the information, provides an opportunity for any to raise questions they may have, and to bring closure to the lesson. In conclusion, a teacher needs to take the time to plan carefully for each class. Thinking about the timing of the activities or phases, so as not to rush or have the students fidgeting is very important. With careful planning and much flexibility a productive class can be taught. References: tile.missouri.edu/teacher/lp.html http://honolulu.Hawaii.edu/internet/committees/FacDevCom/guidebk/teachtip/lesspln1.htm www.nclc.org/essentials/planning/plindex.html